You know, part of me expected to reach their hiding spot in a short while, but I've been walking through this ghost town for almost half an hour and I barely reached the high class district. The game sure made light of the sheer size of your average Hollow, and this was a Companion Hollow. I don't want to think about the main ones like Certain or Lemnian, or the damned Papago "Divine Maze" Hollow.
And though I say high class, it's just in relation to the rest of the place. Picture a handful of highrise buildings in every block, probably each floor being an apartment by itself. And rent probably costing more than I made in a year, both before and now put together.
Regardless of my tangents, what I've noticed, and what has worried me for a while now, is that I haven't encountered a single Ethereal. Not even one of those chunky ones, "Blastcrawlers, was it?" I wondered out loud as I looked around the dilapidated buildings that at some point must have looked like a metropolis.
"Guys, how were the last Ether readings on this place?" I called over the radio as I took cover in an alley, "I haven't encountered a single Ethereal yet, haven't even heard one scuttling about."
It didn't take long before Nick's wizened voice came through, "We did, nothing outrageous though, just some Crawlers and the occasional Tyrfing. But they were out there and still should be-"
Whatever he was about to say got cut off when in the distance, probably two or three blocks to my left, a building collapsed following a deafening boom.
"You better not have been in the building that just got flattened, guys," I said urgently over the radio as, almost by instinct, I felt the Ether flowing around and through me, and channeled it into my feet and pushed.
There was no cracked concrete or resounding boom when I did, but that one jump drove me to overshot a five stories building by a couple of meters before I landed on its roof without a scratch or any strain on my knees.
"Ether sure is great, huh? No wonder Anton basically halted a multi ton construction crane or whatever, and made it look easy," even as I muttered to myself, I looked in the direction the building collapsed and I almost wished I didn't.
Two absolute behemoths were pulling themselves out of the rubble, one with rocks of black and white adorning its body while the other had purely black rocks and green lines running through it. And both had that soft purple, almost pink, sheen to their heads that told you were about about to have a bad time.
Two Farbauti, an Energized and Ionized respectively. And for some reason they were... Fighting each other? Since when do they fight amongst themselves?
I shook my head and decided to use the chance given, "Our plan just went out the window, guys," I said as I began running and vaulting over the roofs, the urgency of the situation dulling the excitement of what this body was capable of.
"We have to meet at the city center, what used to be the park. I'm on my way there, let's meet up there and do not draw the attention of those Ethereals. There are two Farbauti duking it out, keep your heads down!" I said as as I used the tall buildings to stay out of their sight.
"You got it, Lighter," came in Ratena's voice as shuffling sounds went on in the background, "we are getting ready to head out now!"
Good, with any luck Murphy would give us a pass today. It's one thing to farm those guys in-game, with squads of strong agents and hit those parries like it was no one's business. But in reality? Those fuckers could bring down a seven stories tall building and barely feel it and my friends, while possessing above average Ether resistance, we're not built to fight head-on against those beasts.
As I jumped off the last building a block away from the park, I tried to catalogue them in a way I could make sense of. 'Right now, I am A rank at best. I haven't gone through the Underground Fighting Ring like a man possessed to reach the Undefeated status, and never would, if I had anything to say about it.'
I landed with a deaf grunt and rolled to bleed off my momentum and sprinted to the park, 'And if I'm A rank for now,' I continued my train of thought as I reached the middle of the park where the skeleton of a gazebo still stood, 'they would be B ranks for Ratena and Dane and C rank for old Nick. We are nowhere near ready to take on two Mutated Ethereals. And why are they fighting? How are there two, to begin with?'
And that's the question, while the game made use of the HIA VR technology to farm them, they didn't happen naturally in the Hollows unless the Ether readings are going up. And these guys wouldn't have risked it is the reasons were high.
"Lighter, we see you in the middle of the park. Wait for us," the sudden voice from Nick over the radio startled me.
Excited, I looked up and saw them running my way and sighed in relief. We would make it out without a problem.
As if!
Crash-!
Right at that moment, while the three of them were about ten meters away, the two Farbauti blasted through a low rise building like two freaking kaijus. The good part? The Energized was crushing Ionized's head like a grape. The bad part? Energized was guzzling up all the free state Ether released by its victim and getting bigger. Like hella bigger.
Dane, Ratena and Nick stumbled my way as Energized began thumping on the ground with its considerably bigger hammer-like arms. And though it couldn't be seen, an overwhelming pressure made itself known when Energized roared in victory.
"H-Hey, Lighter? We are getting out of here, right?" For the first time in a while, I heard Ratena's voice tremble. Can't say I fault her. Some twenty meters away from us, a close to ten meters tall walking boulder was staring at us, ready to charge.
"Dane, get the carrot data ready, find the closest exit," I made an effort to keep my voice steady as we crouched looking at the enormous Ethereal, trying to look non threatening to buy time. "When I say go, run and don't stop for anything, understood?" I looked at each of them properly.
We were all reasonably scared, but luckily they were unharmed if slightly winded from the sprint here. I myself was starting to feel the strain, but even if tired, that just meant I could squeeze that but more energy. I mean, this Farbauti was not letting us go, not unless we gave it a reason to.
"Oh boy, okay," sighed Dane as he fiddled with the portable terminal that worked as a GPS, "if things haven't changed, there's a fissure that gets us out about five hundred meters thataway," he said while pointing to the left.
"Fine," gruffed Nick as he took a deep breath, "the lass and I are ready whenever."
All the while, the Farbauti was pacing from one side to other, almost like a gorilla would've done it when agitated but hadn't charged us yet.
'Alright, you got this man,' I hyped myself as I inhaled with my eyes closed. The Ethereal would charge us like a runaway train the moment we made a run for it. 'I won't say I'm built for this, but I'm better equipped than I would've been otherwise. I can do it.'
I exhaled and opened my eyes, seeing a steel pipe partly rusty but still intact enough and a better idea than charging that thing back formed in my mind.
'I can work with this,' I thought as I grabbed the pipe, it was almost three meters long and three inches thick. Damn thing weighed quite a bit but nothing outrageous, 'if Anton could grapple with a discount Transformer, then I very much can snipe that thing and ground it long enough to give these three enough time to get away.'
With that in mind, I got ready and nodded to the other three, "Okay, on three, we book it, ready?"
"Ready!/Got it!/Let's do it!" Camera the responses from Nick, Dane and Ratena respectively.
"Okay, I'll need a smoke after this. One," I began the countdown. [Expert Shooting], time to prove your worth.
**
[Expert Shooting]
|Elite Skill|
You are an expert marksman, you handle all firearms and projectiles with great skill and finesse to the point where people might wonder if you have special power. You can even curve your shots and utilize ricochets. You can also better predict the trajectory of enemy projectiles.
**
"A nice lemon candy, you mean," grinned Nick as he and Dane and Ratena for in position, the latter two snickering at the old man's comeback.
"Whatever, old man," I sighed. "Two!" My grip on the pipe increased, knuckles white and foreman tense. I had to time it right, I wasn't aiming to kill it, that simply wasn't possible without special, commissioned weapons. No, I was going to make it crash and let physics do the work.
" Three!" I took off running behind them and slid to a stop when I heard the Farbauti roar and come after us. With me stopping, the three moving targets caught its attention and caused it to steer towards them, leaving its flank exposed.
A warm feeling came over me as I swung my arm back, ready to throw the pipe. I had to hit its leading arm as it got ready to support its considerably weight on it, a fairly reasonable task for a humble steel pipe to accomplish.
Sounds of shock came from the three of them as they realize what I had planned, "Don't stop! Keep running!" Was my immediate response as I took a deep breath and tensed my muscles while Ether filled my body. A haze spreading from me, a sign of how close the Ether was to combusting, and threw!
A sound of displaced air thrummed and then a whistling sound as the pipe flew and hit its mark. This time a sound like a cannon going off echoed in time with a roar from the Farbauti, with the pipe blasting its arm off course and causing to crash on its side and throwing black Ether stone and other debris flying all over.
Without waiting for a response I kicked off in a sprint towards the Farbauti. It was still skidding over the ground when I met it head-on and relying on the [Krav Maga] skill and my own experience I threw the hardest punch I could, aimed at its nucleus head. I charged my arm with so much Ether that it ignited before the impact and I managed to drive its head into the ground further taking advantage of its lingering momentum, redirecting it instead of countering.
There was a sound halfway through popping and tearing as my arm sunk into its head. I was baffled for a second, after all, it couldn't have been that easy, could it?
The Ethereal began to disperse and I shook my head, I'd have time to question things when we weren't in risk of being turned into Ethereal chow. I quickly grabbed the pipe, just in case, and took off running after the others who thankfully listened, for the most part, and ran further away. Not going through the fissure yet but still keeping enough distance to run either to get me or escape, as necessary.
"Let's get going before any more of them appear," I sighed and stretched my arms, feeling the distracting sting of my ribs now that the adrenaline was leaving me. "Let's not call good, old Faraday yet. Have him think we're still busy with this thing."
Good thing we hadn't been paid in advance so we weren't pressured to finish this exploration commission. If the cheapskate Faraday provided Ether suppressants on the suit requested commission then I was going to play it safe. I'd rather lose rep than my team, that's for sure.
In the original story their bodies weren't found, just three dog tags. If they were given the suppressants I'm thinking about, it would explain why there were no bodies left. And depending on how I played my cards, I could expedite our joining the Sons of Calydon early.
"It's not every day you see someone punch through an Ethereal live that," said Ratena as she examined my arm and ribs to make sure I didn't crack anything too important. "Any pain or difficulty breathing, Lighter?" I could hear the worry in her tone, but thankfully I didn't brake anything and told her as much.
"I'm fine, Ratena," I ruffled her hair, "but it's time we left. Annie is waiting for a certain idiot and I'm not making her wait more than she needs to," I smirked Dane's way, "so lead the way, oh great guide. The last awaits our triumphant return."
By the time we managed to get out of the Hollow the sun was past its zenith and getting close to setting. Between the drive here, navigating through the Hollow hoping to fall into a fissure and then meeting up with them time had passed, yet it only felt like a moment.
"Okay, let's go get our cars and go home," I said as I fell on my ass and laid down for a bit, "but first, let me get some sun. For a moment I thought we wouldn't make it when those two first appeared," I looked up the sky, so clear and blue. No planes or helicopters littering the sky, though there were hardly any birds as well, even for an arid region like the Outer Ring. '
Iguess the Hollows caused more damage than I thought or saw in-game, huh?'
I stood up after a moment and saw the three of them staring at me, "Hey, anything on my face, guys?" I asked while sitting up, the legendary pipe still in my hand.
"It's not everyday you see someone punch a hole through an Ethereal of that caliber, son, even if it was the head," Nick's weary voice replied, crouching in front of me while putting a hand on my shoulder, his grip tight. "But still, we couldn't be more grateful for our leader coming for us even if he wasn't at one hundred percent."
I rubbed my eyes with a sigh and pushed myself off the ground with a small groan, "That makes two of us, I didn't expect that encounter to go as smooth as it did. Not without a W-Engine and Drive Discs to help."
And wasn't that a nice surprise... W-Engines and Discs are supposed to be the main tool of the more connected Hollow Raiders, allowing them to increase their resistance to Ether and manipulate it in ways that let's them fight. Slotting one of those little buggers into a weapon increases their attack power and the Discs basically "load" sound patterns into it to add various effects besides the enhancement.
Sixth Street really is full of full of interesting characters. The mechanic who can enhance Bangboo performance, the intelligent construct that modifies and tunes Drive Discs, the store that sells a variety of W-Engines and could probably mod or craft them of given the parts and money. Not to mention the inconspicuous pair of siblings owning a video store but being one of the best Proxies of the modern day.
"What do you mean by that, Lighter?" asked Dane, puzzled as we made our way around the periphery of the Hollow to look for our vehicles.
I threw the pipe away as I hummed trying to put my jumbled thoughts into words, "How should I put it?" I scratched my head. "When I punched that Farbauti the Ether I put out ignited on its own and quite literally burned a hole through it. That shouldn't have happened, not with and Engine to shape and ignite the Ether for me."
"Wait, wait,wait! Pause, chief," it seems like Ratena caught on to my train of thought before the other two did. "Are you saying we got twice as lucky with your Ether combusting and burning the Ethereal and with it being the Energized mutation?"
"What does the Ethereal have to do with it, 'Tena?" Dane, on the other hand, didn't quite get the idea from the vague explanation.
"What she means is that the Farbauti, being in its Energized state, is susceptible to disruptions in its Ether constitution," at the blank look from Dane, Nick elaborated with an easier to understand example. "Imagine this, when Energized, the Farbauti was full of gunpowder. When Ether aligned Fire hits it, that gunpowder catches fire and begins burning it from the inside out. That's why when it advances to the Ionized form, or mutation rather, and the energy has settled more firmly nothing short of Pure Ether attacks can harm it as much."
"What he said," I agreed instantly, while the knowledge of most of these things existed in my head, it was tangled with game jargon so I don't think I could've put it any better than Nick did. "The fact that it was an Energized Farbauti and my Ether burned at that moment, without a W-Engine mind you, saved our hides like you wouldn't believe." As I said this, I pat my pockets to get my cigs and light one up. Funny thing was, my hands were shaking as I put it in my mouth.
Guess the adrenaline was wearing off and the sick of facing off against the Ethereal was hitting me, added to the fact I just woke up a few hours ago after getting stabbed. I remembering I got stabbed in another life where this one was nothing more than a game and my friends were supposed to die today without even a body to show for it-.
Okay, deep breaths, I was spiraling already. I might just crash at any moment now.
"Hah~, old man, can you do your poor leader a solid and light it up?" I asked while holding the lighter towards Nick and biting the butt of the cigarette so it fall off. "Hands are too shaky and I need this before I crash out."
Nick stared at me for a couple of seconds, and whatever he was looking for her must've found it, because with a resigned groan he took the lighter and helped me light the cigarette. I took a deep drag, feeling the smoke burn on its way down and blew the smoke up, away from them because I got manners and shit, "Yeah, that's what I needed after losing years of my life in that shitshow."
Thankfully their car came into view shortly after and we got in before driving some more to look for the other car I took here. Then Ratena decided to be a mother hen after seeing me with shaky hands and took over driving the second car with me sitting shotgun. The last few minutes of silence were broken by her as well.
"Hey, Lighter, you good good or just getting by?" I could almost physically feel the worry in her voice as she spoke, "I know you were worried, I get that, but how did you know about the additional meds or why were you so adamant we got out of there? The Farbauti notwithstanding."
And there it was, if anyone was going to ask the difficult questions, it was gonna be her. She was Lighter's best friend, almost like an older version of how Caesar would turn out to be. Maybe that's why Lighter agreed to be her Champion after she took over? Anyway, how do you explain an existential dread filled morning to someone else without making it sound like Ether Corruption got to you?
"Can't say for certain," I began uncertainly, funnily enough, "but ever since last night something's been bugging me, enough so that I didn't get much sleep," that much was true, "and this morning I decided to listen to that feeling and act on it. As for the meds? I don't trust that cunning fox one bit. And if I don't know where his stuff comes from, I trust it even less. Keep those meds aside, I'll see if I can find someone to take a look at them later." I decided to keep it to myself for the most part, while them knowing the whole picture would be helpful, I didn't have a reliable way to back my theories. Because that's they were for now, theories.
For all I knew, the meds could be the real thing if inferior to our usual supplies, and not induce corruption instead of fighting. While my head conjured up the worst case scenario while I was high of the sudden death and awakening combo, I couldn't act on it until I had proves. If my hunch proved right, I could take this to the Overload and let them handle this, that could also work as a foot on the door for us to get our name out there.
The Sons of Calydon were a thing already, that means Big Daddy already took over the Calydon gang after Caesar's dad went missing, Billy Kid was a menace still but judging by my own age, we were a couple of years away from canon. So anywhere from a year to two from now, Big Daddy would retire, Billy would hang the Red Scarf and leave for New Eridu to be found by Nicole and Caesar and the new gen would take over and probably a year or two after that, Lucy would come in her daring, if ill planned, bid to escape high society life.
Can't be too sure about it all, the ZZZ timeline was a bit wonky at the of times but I sure hope I got it right. Come to think of it though, that's the second dad from a notorious background going missing. First Koleda's and now Caesar's? Actual coincidence or am I pushing it? I didn't get to catch up to the latest patch after the Failume Heights debacle where Yixuan cleansed the whole town with the others' help and I only found out through the internet bits and pieces of the plot that followed after that but nothing concrete. So while I still had a bit of legroom, I couldn't exactly play prophet and point fingers.
Plot armor wasn't a thing anymore, maybe whoever sibling was controlling Eous at the time wouldn't bet on installing the chip containing Fairy, maybe they wouldn't Corin before Lycaon on the others did. A million things could go wrong or go just like in the game. But I couldn't go all in, better use that knowledge as reference and plan accordingly. If I could get our name out there and become a known mercenary troupe, maybe we could start forming bonds with the Sons of Calydon, Big Daddy was an old but wise Thiren so he and Nick could serve as my moral compass when it came to the things to come.
Phaethon didn't remember most of the flashes they saw while making the contract with Fairy, but I remembered. I remembered and could act on it. The events of the Overlord's Feast, the Vision debacle, Bringer being an Exaltist right in the middle of the police force, Miyabi's sword being stolen... There was so much I could avoid or act on, but doing so could also stunt Phaethon's growth and the Mayor deciding they were worth investing in. I knew I would get involved in things, that's the kind of guy I was. The kind of guy Lighter was. If I could end up as the gang's Champion my hands could be tied, but that could also be a chance.
Before being kicked to the curb, I was a corporate slave at a logistics company, a major one, so I knew most of what went on during daily operations. The Sons of Calydon operated officially as a logistics company so I could support their operations as much as Big Daddy and Lucy once I caught up New Eridu's legalese, but that would have to wait for a bit.
"-ter? Lighter, you okay?" Ratena's voice startled me, the cigarette I had taken out at some point falling from lips but thankfully it wasn't lit.
"Sorry, I guess I spaced out a bit too much, huh?" I said a bit sheepish, sticking my hand out the window to feel the wind and hand surf as I collected my thoughts. "Say, 'Tena," I said a bit uncertain, "what are your thoughts on divine intervention?" I asked probingly as I stared at my hand waving through the air.
"You must be really out of it, huh?" I heard her mutter as she kept her eyes on the almost non-existent road. "Can't say I'm much of a believer, being an Outer Ringer and all. I mean, faith won't put food on the table. But I can't say I don't want to believe there's something or someone out there looking out for us, even if the world has mostly gone to hell. The whole 'Hollows being a punishment from the Heavens' schtick doesn't seem fitting for me because we are still here after centuries of struggle, but I can't deny they are too otherworldly to not be something beyond our understanding, if that makes sense?" I could see from the corner of my eye as Ratena tilted her head and scratched her head, trying to put her thoughts into words and doing better than me at that.
"Why the sudden philosophical question? Are you okay?" I sighed and pulled my hand back inside, leaning down to pick the fallen cigarette and putting it back in the pack.
"What if I told you that the sudden drive to pull out of that Hollow came from a dream, or nightmare, actually? Would I sound too crazy?" I decided to bite the bullet and test the waters with her. Keeping my voice casual and doing a somewhat good job.
Without realizing it we had returned to the settlement and Ratena was driving behind Dane's car, a couple of minutes away from our base, "I can't decide for you if you having that gut feeling and coming to get us is divine intervention, but the fact remains that if you hadn't we wouldn't be having this conversation, Lighter," despite how light she made of the situation I could the tension in her with how tight she was gripping the steering wheel. "So whether or not it was an omen or just instinct, the fact remains you pulled us out of the Hollow when we would otherwise be stuck there with a weird Ethereal that for some reason was fighting a more evolved version of it. So thanks, Lighter, for coming for us guns blazing." She turned to me with a smile.
"Even if your plan wasn't a plan exactly and we only ran around until we found the exit," her grateful smile turned into a teasing grin and the moment was ruined.
I hugged in mock indignation and turned my face as she she pulled over in the parking space of our base, "That's what I get for being such an amazing leader and conducting such a complex rescue mission, solo I might add, and defeating a dangerous Ethereal in the process?" I lamented in jest. "I'm not appreciated enough by you people."
At this, she only let out the laugh she'd been holding in, "Don't be such a baby, Lighter! We all agreed on you being the leader because we trust your judgement, if you feel this commission is not worth it then we'll follow your lead. You're the best among us and we trust you, so feel free to speak up when you feel it necessary, fearless leader."
Though equal parts reassuring and curious about why I was asking suck question, she didn't pry further and just let it go as we got out of the car only to see Dane being immediately attacked by a small blur that almost folded him in half.
"Dane! You're back!" though muffled, what with her face being buried in his stomach, Annie's voice was loud enough to alert half the settlement of our return and some people along with Nick's wife came to greet us.
"Oh, Nick," said Helen, the aforementioned wife, as she embraced him tightly, her voice filled with relief. "We worried when we saw Lighter leave in such a hurry. We are glad you all came back in one piece."
"We're fine, love, don't you worry about a thing," Nick comforted her as he returned the embrace. "With him at the front nothing could ever happen to us."
'Yeah, about that... How about we don't touch that subject?' I winced mentally at what would've otherwise unfolded should I have decided to wait things out. No bodies, three dog tags. 'Think good thoughts, think good thoughts... Dennies, fame, power, Astra Yao, Zhu Yuan, Big Dadd-... Big Daddy?!'
In effect, that big, burly, giant of a Thiren was parked across the street, within earshot of what was being said. And a few paces behind his bike was a small truck with a short blonde sitting on the hood, feet nowhere near the ground and a messy bun on the left side of her bangs was the one and only Piper Wheel.
"Ah, Helen, guys? Sorry to interrupt the touching moment," I began, my voice as uncertain as I felt inside, "but does anyone else see that huge boar Thiren and the short stack with him or is it just me and my sleep deprived brain making things up?"
"Ah, that's right, I almost forgot! They came about an hour ago looking for you people." Helen's voice was sheepish as she stepped back from Nick and waved the two surprise guests over.
'Excuse you?! The fuck you mean they came for us, woman?! How did we reach this development? No, don't call them over, my heart's not ready yet!'
Naturally, I was the very picture of serenity inside and out as the comically lopsided duo walked over to us, "So you are the mercenary troupe we've been hearing about lately, huh?" I heard a rumbling voice as the massive Thiren look at each of us, almost sizing us up.
'Damn, Kratos is that you, buddy?' With a voice like that of course he can get away with having people call him Big Daddy! Fuck, I could almost feel my testosterone rising with just hearing his voice.
Is it too late to go back to sleep and crash out in peace?
*****
So, that was chapter two. Our boy Lighter has a completely tame and normal first encounter with Ethereals, has a minor existential crisis and gets blindsided by Big D's surprise visit.
I want to address a couple of things though.
First, at times it may seem like the dialogue and exposition go in different ways. That's intentional to reflect Lighter's ramblings as more and more things get piled up on his plate without time for him to properly process the fact he died and after waking up his friends were about to die or become Ethereals themselves. We are reading everything from his perspective, his wandering thoughts, his ideas. Just like when we spiral thinking about one thing and end up questioning the universe. Somehow.
Second, the timeline. Hoyo isn't really clear with the timeline but what we know for sure is that it's been centuries since the first wave of Hollows hit the Old Civilization and over a century since the founding of Eridu (supposed last human city) and about a decade since Hollow Zero swallowed up Eridu and the survivors moved to the satellite city that became New Eridu. I initially planned on the events of the story taking place a couple of years earlier but, honestly, I'm not exactly creative enough to pump out anywhere from twenty to forty chapters to build up to the start of canon so I settled for somewhere around three years before canon.
The characters that would become the core members of the Sons of Calydon are basically adults already, Big Daddy and Billy are close to retirement and the siblings Phaethon are well known proxies but not quite legendary yet.
Third, my head canon. In my mind, after his friends disappear in the Hollow and he racks up a debt to pay a severance of sorts to the surviving family members, he spends around two years of nonstop fighting in the Underground Fighting Ring before being found by the big guy.
While in the game it's stated that Big Daddy was interested in his winning streak and that's why he paid off the remaining debt, here, he heard rumours of a rising mercenary troupe and his interest grew the more he heard. In-game, upon approaching Lighter he would've learned of the squad's passing and given Lighter some space to grieve, during which, Lighter takes the massive loan and disappears in the Fighting Rings only to resurface years later as an "Undefeated Champion" which catches Big D's interest. Only to find Lighter as a shell of his former self and paying off the debt to bring him into the Sons of Calydon. And the rest is history.
I might just see about creating an aux or extra chapter with all the technical stuff for my and your reference. Later. At some point. Maybe.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read and add this trainwreck to your collections, I can't promise daily chapters but I can say with certainty that I will try to produce two to three a week. And long chapters too, this one was a solid 5K without my ramblings.
See you all next chapter!